Washington, D.C. - Congressman Paul A. Gosar, D.D.S. (AZ-09) issued the following statement after voting in favor of H. Con. Res. 57 – “Expressing the sense of Congress supporting the State of Israel.”  This resolution was presented after members of Congress, including Rep. Jayapal, engaged in hateful antisemitic speech and labelled an entire nation as “racist” because of her strong hatred and antipathy towards the Jewish people:

“It is a sad day in Congress when we must address the vile, anti-Semitic hatred expressed by certain members.   Israel is not a racist state and I strongly condemn the recent anti-Semitic and hateful remarks made by Representative Pramila Jayapal.  Israel, the nation, was created as a safe haven for the Jewish people immediately following the Holocaust.  Israel is the historic, and current, home of the Jewish people.  The nation of Israel has every right to protect its sovereignty, its borders, its people, and doing so does not make it “racist.”

There is zero room in our society for these vile, hateful and bigoted comments in the Halls of Congress.  As our strongest ally in the Middle East, I will never shy away from my long-standing support for Israel. The anti-Jewish and anti-Israel statements by members of Congress must be condemned,” stated Congressman Gosar.

BACKGROUND

Rep. Jayapal has a long history of virulent hatred for Jewish people and the nation of Israel.  At a recent conference in Chicago, Rep. Jayapal said “I want you to know that we have been fighting to make it clear that Israel is a racist state.”  This broad categorization of a minority group shocked the conscience of non-racist people everywhere.  It is not the first time Jayapal has engaged in anti-Semitism.  One article in 2019 noted “Jayapal owes her constituents, especially her Jewish ones like me, an explanation as to why she’s comfortable working so closely with a woman who constantly uses anti-Semitic tropes to criticize Jews or Israel.” 

In 2021, Representative Reschenthaler filed a House resolution to condemn Jayapal’s statements wherein she blamed Israel for the violence, rocket attacks on civilians, and chaos being inflicted on Israeli citizens by the terrorist group Hamas.  As he stated then, “blaming Israel for Hamas rocket attacks and justifying terrorism is a form of anti-Semitic speech” and “spreading hateful misinformation about the State of Israel feeds anti-Semitism against Jewish people at home and abroad.” 

Nor was Rep. Jayapal’s fake effort to apologize acceptable.  Dr. Mark Goldfeder, Director of the National Jewish Advocacy Center, explained quite well the insincerity of Jayapal’s statement:  “To be clear, we soundly reject Jayapal's "apology." Her statement is part and parcel of a growing movement within the progressive left wing of the Democrat Party, which no American should support, no matter their race, religion or party affiliation.  Jayapal and her friends have a history of reflexively criticizing Israel without actually knowing the facts or caring about the context.  Studies have shown that their brand of inflammatory, discriminatory, antisemitic rhetoric often leads directly to antisemitic violence, yet they continue to try and infuse the national conversation with their reckless and demonstrably dangerous lies.  Words matter, and facts matter, even when the country that is being lied about is Israel, and even when the people who end up being attacked are Jews.”